Necromancy

[Jale]

This is a general dump on my musings about the topic of Necromancy.


On Souls, Bodies and Receptacles
The Natural State of Affairs
Each person or beast has a spirit or soul. A body is a natural receptacle of a soul. In the higher races (men, mer, beastfolk...) the soul is protected by Arkay, and cannot normally be wrested from the body except in death. The souls of animals, daedra or Living Gods are not protected by Arkay. Upon death, the soul attempts to exit the body.
Black and White Souls???
This is somewhat of a misnomer. It is an invention of mages who see the differences between protected and unprotected souls but come to the wrong conclusion. The difficulty in capturing them is not because of their power, but because of Arkay's interdiction. Their danger in handling is again not because of a fundamental difference, but of a fundamental similarity to the soul of the handler, such that the soul, recognizing a form similar to its natural state, attempts to inhabit it. Case in point: the souls of former men and women, the living gods, are more powerful than a human soul, but safe to handle because of their deified nature and because of their unprotected state.
Soul Traps
An unprotected soul can be captured upon exiting the body by using a Soultrap spell, where a Soul Gem is used as a receptacle for the soul. By interdiction of the deified Mannimarco, and use of Black Soul Gems, a similar Soul Trap can be used to capture even protected souls safely.
Other Receptacles
A body is a natural vessel, and a Soul Gem is a good quality synthetic vessel. Enchanting is essentially the act of binding a soul within a receptacle and manipulating it to the purpose of channeling Magick. Another vessel is that used by lichs to cheat death.
The Dead Body
A corpse may still act as a vessel for a soul after death: it does not lose its ability to act as a receptacle. As such, the body can be reanimated: this is also the case for animals, but these are less useful. A body can be further protected by Arkay's Law by ministration of a priest, whereby the body is sealed from the insertion of another soul.

The Principles of Necromancy
Reanimation 101
Reanimation on a basic level is the act of binding a soul into a vessel in order to use the body for a useful purpose. This is not a simple act. While it would be really quite easy to take the trapped soul of a rat and channel it into an unsealed corpse, the result would be an unstable mess with all the instincts of the soul's origins: you would in theory have a zombie rat-man that would try to gnaw on you. However, in reality it would probably fail immediately due to principles of form.
Principles of Form
One of the trickiest parts of necromancy is that of form. The soul is attuned to controlling a particular form: a rat soul knows how to move a rat, a human soul knows how to move a human. Thus for a revenant to have any sort of longevity it must have a certain level of attunement to the form which you are trying to force it into. Another important principle of form is the wholeness of the body. The corpse must maintain a certain level of adherence to its original shape. This is why a Zombie can be headless, but Skeletons must be whole.
Exceptions to the Principles
The Necromancers of Morrowind can produce revenants such as the Bonelord or the Bonewalker. Their existence runs contrary to the Principles of Form. This is probably because the Principles are largely tied to the will of the soul, and the souls inhabiting Bonelords and Bonewalkers are compliant in their forms. It is impossible to force an unwilling soul to control a Bonelord's form as they can easily escape the torment. Only a willing soul may be used.
The Choice of Soul
Souls used in necromancy are often those that have passed into death and allowed themselves to be summoned back: Ghosts and the like. The precise mechanism is not quite understood, but a consenting Ghostly Soul can be called back from the void and thus captured and used in Necromancy. This is a very good method as there are at least vestigial memories of the form of the human/elf/beastman body, though some measure of control is lost. As mentioned before, the best soul is a willing soul, though such opportunities are rare.
Manipulation of the Soul
As mentioned earlier, a soul will maintain the instincts and motives of its original form. Thus the soul must be bent to the Necromancer's will. This magic is similar to the 'command humanoid' spells, and probably rooted in such. The soul is essentially lobotomized of its original intentions and thus made pliant to the will of the Necromancer. The soul is in some part tricked into believing it is still alive, and thus that it should remain in place. This is dependent on the form of the body: changing the form reminds the soul of its vessel and causes it to attempt to escape the receptacle.

Varieties of Undead
Zombies
The easiest project. A zombie can take many attacks due to the fact that it mainly adheres to an original humanoid form and thus can lose a lot of its body before the soul slips. All that is required is sufficient soul binding to keep the soul held for the duration of the zombie's useful life (not a long period of time by any reckoning), and the mysticism-rooted web of spells that link the soul with the functions of the body, allowing motion. The longevity of a zombie in combat depends on the power of the Necromancer: the soul is trying to escape such torment, and only the binding commands of the necromancer keep it in check. Thus the more powerful the necromancer, the longer the soul will inhabit the body before recalling its desire to flee. Zombies can be reused many times as long as there is a certain level of adherence to a humanoid form. Over time they will become less and less useful, and eventually the decomposing flesh will bring down a zombie, solidifying the joints and eventually allowing escape of the soul. A zombie, left alone, will probably last around 20 to 50 days before decomposition renders it useless. The resulting remains can however be recycled for Skeletal revenants. The main advantages of a Zombie are the ease of creation, their strength in combat, and the fact that bodies of almost any age can be used effectively.
Skeletons
A far superior revenant in terms of longevity, the Skeleton can in theory last indefinitely. In practice, the differences between the host body and the trapped soul will eventually cause conflicts that chip away at the holding seals. This is mitigated, if not entirely solved, by using humanoid souls. A different set of mysticism-related trappings are required to hold the skeleton in its form, though this is aided by the soul's desire to inhabit a vessel similar to its original form, and thus do not require replacement as the soul will replenish their power: this is why when the soul is exorcised in combat, the skeleton collapses. One of the main advantages of a Skeleton to a necromancer is that various improvements can be made, such as reinforcing the skull or joints, though such a practice is usually reserved for the Necromancers of Scourg Barrow, as most Necromancers know little of metallurgy. Not all skeletons make for good Skeletal Revenants: bodies below the age of 25 or over the age of 50 for women or around 65 for men are generally weaker and will fall in battle sooner than skeletons between these ages.
Lich
The ultimate goal of many necromancers. The basis of a lich is not far removed from that of a skeleton, however there is no 'lobotomization' of the soul. The necromancer transfers his or her soul out of the body, into an interim vessel, and then returns it again after death has occurred. This process relies largely upon triggered spells. Though the soul is held in the interim receptacle, enough of a link is held to maintain control over the body. Essentially a soultrap is enacted long prior to death and held in the critical moment. Then, when death has occurred, the prepared spells trigger the release of the soul back into the body. Death is a delicate matter in this case, as enough flesh must be removed from the body to allow motion after death. Usually the necromancer will have other revenants eviscerate him or her, stripping the body of most flesh. After awakening the necromancer will then remove more flesh to facilitate motion. Some damage is usually incurred in the process. Lichs can theoretically live forever, and the only method of killing them is essentially via a torturous assault such that the soul flees from the torments you impose upon it.
Mummies
The most complex of constructs usually made by Necromancers. By halting the process of decay, you essentially maintain the benefits of a zombie without having the problems of the changing form. The trapped soul is hard to exorcise not only because it has a static form very similar to the original humanoid shape, but because most souls are greedy with life: a mummy may actually be grateful to the Necromancer that constructed it. As such, mummies require less tampering when it comes to soul manipulation and can be allowed more autonomy. The process for creating one is almost identical to that of a zombie, differing only in pre-ritual processing. The body is preserved through embalming, and wrapped in the traditional manner. Mummies take at least a month to prepare, and are less common due to the need for a fairly fresh body. The best undead a necromancer could produce against a soul's will would be a body killed by poison, imbued with its original soul and mummified.
The Exotic Undead
I have already mentioned those of Morrowind. Bonelords and Bonewalkers are superior to standard undead because of their voluntary origins. Other undead do exist. On Solstheim bonewolves inhabit crypts. These are skeletal wolf revenants. Such constructs are very lazy, as they can be easily made, but they do serve their purpose. Also on the isle are Draugr, which appear to be a variety of Mummy. Local legend reports that they were cursed by 'the All-Maker', which is a possibility, but they may simply be the result of zombification conducted in the cold, preserving climate of the North.

Why Scourg Barrow is the Place to Be
You might question why traditionally reclusive Necromancers choose to join up in the Barrow, and why they are considered in any way superior. Well there are a number of reasons. Firstly, safety in numbers: nobody could assault that place, with so many powerful lichs and wizards. While the Barrow is a community, each member has his or her own quarters, built by their own power or servants, so there is a high standard of privacy. Secondly, they do just produce a higher standard of undead. There are many reasons for this. The Barrow acts almost as a college, and thus the inhabitants are better trained at the spells which bind the corpses. Also, corpses garnered from the area can be very fresh, as they are preserved either by the desert climes of Hammerfell or the cold weather of Skyrim. The natural resources of the area are also useful: Rock Salt can be used for creating embalming solutions. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that over hundreds of years, various skill-sharing practices have brought about the use of procedures beyond the reach of normal necromancers. Skeletons can be enhanced with metallic appendages and well crafted leather bindings that make them far stronger and resilient to attack. Lichs are stronger because the transition can be aided by other necromancers, who will carefully kill the candidate and remove the flesh delicately without harming the structures beneath. Ultimately, they are superior in training and in methodology.

EDIT: This is just to serve a sort of brainstorm and critique before I start writing and books based off this material. If you have stuff to add, think any of my ideas are bad, or think I am on the money, speak up so we can distill this down by consensus.

[Harke the Apostle]

Someone wrote On the Preparation of the Corpse already, and I doubt most TES fans are waiting for another explanation of game mechanics.

That stuff is all over long-forgotten TR showcase threads and the Official forums.

If you must write about Necromancy, PM Sload and write about Cyrus and Tu'whacca instead.

[Sload]

Don't be suck a dick.

[Jale]

Harke, this is for the basis of some books I am preparing, and I want the lore agreed on before I proceed. If you disagree with any of the points then please put a constructive post down.

[Harke the Apostle]

I thought I was being rather diplomatic about this.
It may be that reading 20+ threads on the Official Lore forums about what happens to a trapped soul erodes your sensitivity somewhat.

What kind of books are you planning to write?

[Jale]

I don't bother myself with the Official Forums, and if you are bored of it don't read it.

Wait and see.

[Thrignar Fraxix]

Harke, Shut up.
Jale knows what he is doing and has been doing this for longer than you have. (He might even have been around longer than I have, his account got deleted a few years ago so I don't know)

Point is, don't be a dick. Don't try to police what other people write. You are not the lit mod. Jale is not an idiot (quite the contrary).

You seem to be doing things like this a lot recently, I recommend you stop.

[Jale]

Thanks TF, I appreciate the sentiment.

Harke, you are welcome to provide constructive input, but if the topic is not to your liking then please do feel free to move along. Unless you were not aware, I provide you this courtesy with most of the books you write. I am not saying this to be impolite, but I am not interested in the topics you tend to write on. What do I do? Not read them. Simple answer to a simple problem.

[Nanu]

I assume the mummy appeared in Daggerfall or somesuch? A compendium of necromacy would be really cool, Jale. Were you planning on one big book?

As to the lore, there's not much on it. You could TIL Arkay if you'd like, but I doubt you'll learn anything you don't already know.

[Jale]

The mummy is in Daggerfall, and the Book 'Preparation of the Corpse'. It was absent from Morrowind probably because of their own native form of Necromancy (extensive exotic manipulation of corpses, no bothering with paltry Zombies). If we were to pretend that Oblivion was made by people who cared about the fans, then we could say that those Necromancers who 'invaded' were lazy and poorly taught...Zombies everywhere, few skeletons. They made a shock force, not a decent army.If we can get round to it, I think mummies would be good in Hammerfell. It need not be a 'creature'...the bindings could be made as armour pieces like those guards you cannot rob, and their speed simply taken down. I think mummies should have most of the faculties of a Humanoid, though of course dialogue disabled!

I am not wholey worried about 100% matching up with established lore, I just want the book to be credible.

[pacificmorrowind]

There was mummies on vvardenfel, but they were non living (ie.static or containers). I know there was some in the urshulaku (misspelling i'm sure) burial grounds, but I think there was one or two other locations as well.
Pacific Morrowind

[Infinitium]

Those might have been naturally occuring though; don't forget that the Urshikulaku lived in the far north (suggesting a cold, dry climate) but also volcanic soil tends to be acidic (due to Ion.saturized water being forced towards the surface by seismic activity), and there were what appeared to be multiple acidic salt ponds in the burial caverns. Think Incan mummies or people frozen into glaciers: cold, dry climes preserve bodies naturally.

@jale: Also whilst on the subjects of Mummies, perhaps you should note that simply burying a corpse in the desert usually dries it up and preserves it, creating a naturaly occuring mummy. If nothing else it'd be an interesting local variant of the common Zombie in Desert areas. Also what of the Soul Gems found on Bonewalkers/Lords? Always figured they had something to do with the enchantments animating them so might be worth a mention. Nice theories otherwise.

[Tyrion]

Yeah they weren't wrapped or didn't appear to have been purposefully embalmed if I recall correctly.

Bonewalkers are easily one of my favorite undead of all time.

[Hemitheon]

Bonelords and Bonewalkers are not summoned by necromancy. They guard ancestral tombs and holy sites. Nerevar Indoril was summoned as a bonelord or bonewalker I forget. The Dunmer are quite firm in their separating Temple-related conjurations from necromantic ones.

[Haplo]

Bonelords and Bonewalkers are not summoned by necromancy. They guard ancestral tombs and holy sites. Nerevar Indoril was summoned as a bonelord or bonewalker I forget. The Dunmer are quite firm in their separating Temple-related conjurations from necromantic ones.

Bonewalker I think.

[Jale]

Bonelords and Bonewalkers are not summoned by necromancy. They guard ancestral tombs and holy sites. Nerevar Indoril was summoned as a bonelord or bonewalker I forget. The Dunmer are quite firm in their separating Temple-related conjurations from necromantic ones.

The conjuration aspect is tricky. Technically you can summon bonelords, bonewalkers, skeletons and ghosts. It is undeniable that skeletons and ghosts are to do with necromancy, especially on the Skeleton basis. Fact is that they are forms of the undead, and thus cannot be naturally occurring. Undeath just plain isn't natural. It isn't like summoning a Daedroth from the planes of Oblivion. Ultimately I am making the argument that the Morrowind Bonelords and Bonewalkers are indeed necromantic. This is part of the cultural duality seen in Tamriellic cultures: Morrowind hates necromancy, except 'their' necromancy. Hammerfell is supposed to hate magick, but they have 'their' magick which is great.

Anyhoo, quotes to support:

Flesh revenants, or 'zombies' as they are often called in the West, are known as 'bonewalkers' in Morrowind. Magic preserves the bonewalker's fleshy remains along with the bones and spirit.

Perhaps a slightly ignorant analysis from a Western perspective, but this does establish a connection from an unbiased viewpoint.

Who can know the shame of the dead, the ceaseless weeping of the necromancer's thrall? Cruel enough is the ancestor's service given in love to Hearth and Kin. But ghost or guardian, bonewalker or bonelord, summoned by profane ritual and bound by force to the corpse miner's will, how may such a spirit ever find rest? How may it ever find its way back to its blood and clan?

Only a righteous Dunmer, bound by blood to hearth and kin, bound by oath and service to the Temple, can call upon the spirits of the Dunmer dead. Those foreign sorcerers of other races that invade our shores, shall they be permitted to rob our tombs, to bind our kin-spirits into sorcerous slavery, to steal the lives of our dead as well as our land of the living? No, I say, no, and no, three times more. Such necromancers must die, and their profane magicks must die with them.

What I think is going on with summoning the undead is that you are robbing them from another tomb to come to you. That is what the first paragraph is about...but it does beg the question of how do they get there in the first place. The second paragraph answers that: Only righteous Dunmer can perform what would be classed as Necromancy.

This also goes in support of the suggestion that Dunmer necromancy is voluntary. It feels to me like an extension of clan duty, a means to serve the tribe after death.

Anyone else got an opinion on that? It was more of the contentious points in my mind.

EDIT: Where is the bit about nerevar being summoned as a Bonewalker? I can't find it anywhere :S

[Gez]

Bonelords and Bonewalkers are not summoned by necromancy.

Summoning them is conjuration, creating them is necromancy. (Necromancy was never implemented as gameplay in any of the TES games -- there are corpses, there are undead, there are necromancers, but there are no rules letting necromancers turn corpses into undead during the game. However, it's supposed to exist anyway.)

[Obagovo]

If we were to pretend that Oblivion was made by people who cared about the fans, then we could say that those Necromancers who 'invaded' were lazy and poorly taught...Zombies everywhere, few skeletons. They made a shock force, not a decent army.

Out of curiosity, if the necromancers in Oblivion were in fact a mere shock force, why would Mannimarco come in person?

[Jale]

Out of curiosity, if the necromancers in Oblivion were in fact a mere shock force, why would Mannimarco come in person?

Well I always was of the opinion that THAT Mannimarco was an imposter, but thats not the party line.

Essentially they were going for a quick invasion, recruiting, training and resurrecting in a rapid time frame. There was no time to allow for the weeks required to strip corpses for skeletal resurrection, and no need, since the hardier if perishable Zombies were more suited to the task.

I don't think that they really worked with the blessing of Scourg Barrow. See, Mannimarco exists in many states at once. What you saw was the living Altmer Mannimarco. At the same time, he is the Worm God, allowing the creation of Black Soul Gems. There may be other Mannimarcos, as a result of his apotheosis in the Warp of the West: 7 outcomes may have lead to 7 different Mannimarcos.

[Obagovo]

Huh. I only thought there were two Mannimarcos (The mortal one and the Worm God).

P.S.: I'd have to agree with you on the "Fake Mannimarco" theory.

[Jale]

Well I am of the opinion that there would be a few...Worm King, Worm God, and then just...worms. But that's a story for another day, I believe.

Those necromancers could not have been from Scourg barrow. Case in point? They were all alive. No lichs.